Posts Tagged ‘The Last of Us’

“Oh, I’ll get to it eventually…” is not only the phrase I use most, but it could easily be the title of my autobiography. If you’re a geek like myself, you know just how hard it is to find time to check out all that amazing pop culture you’ve been missing out on. Not usually one to take stock in New Year resolutions, I decided to buckle down and give it a whirl; but with a geektastic spin. . .

You won’t find “lose weight,” “quit coffee” or any other proclamation on my list that will fade into obscurity within a matter of days; no ma’am. Instead what you’ll find are numerous forms of media/properties that I’ve yet to experience, ranging from books and comics to television and web series; and everything in between. Some of it has yet to be released while others are decades old, but that’s alright! Better late than never, and all that.

I feel the need to fill certain gaps in my ever-expanding geekness; like finally reading Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (and see how the movie stacked up). I want to read Alan Moore’s comic work that doesn’t spotlight any Watchmen or the Joker’s photography hobby, so Saga of the Swamp Thing, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and V For Vendetta are all on my radar. I also want to visit another of Joss Whedon’s universes, and Firefly, Serenity and all the comic tie-ins are eagerly awaiting my arrival.

Say what you will about Spike’s Video Game Awards and their choices of winning titles, but it is one of the places to see the premiere trailers for some of the biggest games of the following year. Six months separated from E3, the VGAs are the biggest nationally televisions gaming event in the latter half of the year in the US. As a result, games that were quiet during E3 get revived interest while other games that were spotlighted at E3 get one last big push before their releases early in the next year.

So far, Spike has revealed three teasers for game’s that will be getting the ultimate spotlight on this year’s VGAs. Gears of War: Judgment will be coming to the VGAs only six months after its E3 announcement and will focus on the character Baird in the early parts of the Locust War. The Last of Us actually made its debut at last year’s VGAs and quickly grew a rabid fan base. Coming from the same studio that brought us Uncharted, The Last of Us has an intense blend of action and survival in an apocalyptic setting while also focusing on the relationship between its two diverse main characters. Finally, after a plethora of delays, Bioshock Infinite will make its way to the VGAs to help prepare for its February 2013 launch.

Check out all the teasers below after the jump and catch the Spike Video Game Awards on Friday night, December 7th at 9 PM on Spike TV.

The Last of Us is one of the most anticipated games set to release in the next 12 months. From the creators of the Uncharted series, this new IP promises an epic story centered around a post-apocalyptic world, told in a cinematic and engrossing way.

Some crafty fans out there have marshalled that anticipation and turned it into a piece of internet gold. Using the still shockingly endless sandbox that is Little Big Planet 2, YouTuber theclassicevil has crafted a recreation of the most recent The Last of Us trailer.

As a self professed Sony fanboy, this Sony on Sony IP love fest really does things for me. However, the creativity, and general hilarity, of this video has some heavy cross over appeal. Using Little Big Planet 2 in such a creative way illustrates a key point Sony proponents like to make.

The Playstation 3 era is being defined by its boundary pushing approach to tent pole IPs. Little Big Planet and Mod Nation Racers both emphasis creativity and community in their multiplayer experience. Something that has never really existed on a console before. And on the other end of the spectrum is the games by Naughty Dog, the developer of The Last of Us, that showcase immersive entertainment experiences that give you all the best parts of playing a game, watching a movie and reading a novel all in one package.

Naughty Dog is one of those developers that is just on a serious roll. Since they began making games for the original Playstation, all they have done is create three of the most popular franchises in Sony’s video gaming history. From Crash Bandicoot, to Jak and Daxter, all the way to Uncharted, Naughty Dog has been on the cutting edge of gaming.

What they were able to achieve in the Uncharted series was utilize the power of the Playstation 3 to tell a video game story in an incredibly cinematic way. The end result was an experience that some how feels like watching a movie, reading a novel and playing a video game all at once.

Now Naughty Dog is moving forward with another new IP for the Playstaion with The Last of Us, a post-apocalyptic action adventure game. We have seen a trailer for this game already, and it clearly demands out attention, but to cap off their 2012 E3 Conference Sony showed off seven minutes of game play to wet our whistles.

The footage showcases the visual beauty of this run down world, and the shocking realism of the battles. If Naughty Dog can continue to push the envelope of storytelling in a video game package, The Last of Us looks to be one of the most impressive releases of the year.

Of the Big 3 press conferences, Sony had the strongest conference for gamers. This partially comes from one of the most impressive pieces of footage from a game already announced as well as an exciting new trailer as well that no one was expecting. While they did diverge slightly away from core games and put some emphasis on the move and a new peripheral, Sony definitely delivered the “gamer’s conference” when compared to Nintendo and Microsoft.

After a standard clip montage and Jack Tretton giving the same introductory speech that has been heard time and again, things started off strong with the reveal of Beyond: Two Soulsby the same studio that brought us Heavy Rain. With the lead character played by Ellen Page, Beyond promises to bring together storytelling in gaming unlike anything seen before. With the footage below, it may be the truth.

What was one of the other hotly anticipated games that followed ended up being somewhat of a letdown for those watching. The crowd was strangely silent during the demo of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale which looked generic as a Smash Brothers clone with a very boring level layout. Also announced as playable characters were Nathan Drake from Uncharted and the Big Daddy from Bioshock.

This week, JC & WallE get into it with their thoughts on the recent trailer reveals for The Last of Us, Fortnite, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, The Amazing Spider-Man and Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. JC also gives his final edition of The Long Grind focusing on The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. Don’t worry though, the Long Grind will return in 2012 with new epic games to discuss.

The Topic of the Week this week is a very special one. A few weeks ago, the Bitcast crew talked about realism in games. This week, JC had the honor of sitting down and talking to a member of the United States Marine Corps who was involved in the conflict at the Battle of Fallujah in late 2004, considered to be one of the harshest battles in modern warfare history. This marine shares his perspective on gaming, movies and television and how it relates to his experiences. We thank this individual for his time, his service and for sharing his experiences with us.

For their Now Playing, JC gives some insight in the recent Voltron XBLA release as well as how Christmas shopping reminded him of his time playing Dead Rising while WallE talks Madden 12. The duo even gives some not so subtle hints on what games they wouldn’t mind getting for Christmas.

Don’t forget to tune in next week for the Best Games of 2011 show and make sure to follow everyone on Twitter including @theflickcast, @thebitcast, @thejohncarle & @JWWallE. Finally, don’t forget to subscribe to The Bitcast on The Flickcast iTunes feed.

Saturday night, Spike TV held its annual Video Game Awards show which, as promised, gave the first looks at some huge trailers for 2012’s gaming landscape.

Naughty Dog gets to step away from their blockbuster Uncharted series to work on a new IP titled The Last of Us. This new title takes a different approach from the recent string of zombie / infected scenarios where it looks like it can be a game of stealth and horror mixed together. It isn’t a world like Dead Rising or Left 4 Dead where the creatures flood the street and makes the possibility of combining the stealth and horror genres pretty intriguing.

This has the possibility of becoming a fantastic PlayStation exclusive franchise. The trailer for The Last of Us is definitely one of the great surprises from the VGAs this year.